September 29, 2008 — In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today. For other up-to-the-minute news, check out ITIís Twitter account: @ITINewsBreaks.

Since 2004, Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere reports have analyzed the trends around blogs and blogging. For the 2008 study, the company wanted to go beyond the numbers to deliver insights into bloggers and the state of blogging today. In addition to analyzing the data from the Technorati Index, for the first time, it surveyed bloggers to understand the role of blogging in their lives; tools, time, and resources used for their blogs; and how blogging has impacted them personally, professionally, and financially.

Blogging is a truly global phenomenon: Technorati tracked blogs in 81 languages in June 2008, and bloggers responded to the survey from 66 countries across six continents. Bloggers have been at it an average of 3 years and are collectively creating close to 1 million posts every day. Blogs have representation in top 10 website lists across all key categories and have become integral to the media ecosystem.

Bloggers are not a homogenous group: Personal, professional, and corporate bloggers all have differing goals and cover an average of five topics within each blog. On average, bloggers use five different techniques to drive traffic to their blog. They’re using an average of seven publishing tools on their blog and four distinct metrics for measuring success. Blogging is having an incredibly positive impact on their lives, with bloggers receiving speaking or publishing opportunities, career advancement, and personal satisfaction. The majority of personal bloggers do it for fun. Twenty percent are currently making some money blogging, and another 42% hope to make money on their blog in the future. The majority of corporate and professional bloggers have seen a positive impact as a result of their blogs. Half are better-known in their industry, and one in four has used their blog as a resume enhancement.